A guide through the Nordic everyday lifestyle, feelings, hopes, fears, dreams, weaknesses and ideas, written by a passionate 34-year-old city marketer from Helsinki, Finland.

Nordic summer solstice festival Midsummer

Helsinki, 17 degrees

You had me under your spell.

When reading through my blog, I think it comes as no surprise that Midsummer is my favorite annual celebration! If you've missed my earlier blog posts about the Nordic festivity, you can find them all here. This year, I thought I would share with you a special site made especially for the event: local tea company Nord-T's Midsummer site. It sums this time of year up quite well: "Sauna, new potatoes, magic spells, skinny dipping, bonfires, and long endless nights. There you have it – Finnish Midsummer at its best. Add some mosquitos and/or rain for an authentic feeling.For many, this holiday at the end of June, originally a celebration of the summer solstice, marks the start of summer and holidays."

My summer holidays will start in a week, so I still have some work left before I'm off, but nevertheless, this three-day-long festivity weekend has felt perfect. The lovely ladies behind Nord-T have summed up ten spells, traditions, and treats for their site visitors. The most important tradition for me is to rejoice over our current natural splendor: picking seven different flowers during Midsummer Eve (despite wrong beliefs it's more than possible to do in Helsinki as one third of the city is green areas!), and making floral crowns / flower wreaths for me and my toddler girl (+ bouquets) out of them to wear during the weekend. Having said this, foodwise I always enjoy strawberries, Atlantic herring and new potatoes, and I do believe that sauna year-round makes life better. I'm also fascinated by Midsummer bonfires.

I love the fact that the ladies behind Nord-T have realized the essence of Midsummer: spending time together, and enjoying life in the midst of nature. Fun and games are vital - and I think their Midsummer bingo is excellent and I will be using it for years onwards! You might remember seeing the pattern of my Midsummer dress before - maybe in this earlier blog post?